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It is pretty clear that the desire within the AFL administration is to continue with the rule changes that Covid has imposed on us. Shorter games, wildly different breaks between games accepted as fair, very little daytime football and matches every day of the week all excused by Covid, but...

The AFL is able to have its way with disposing of daytime football under the all pervading virus excuse. The real reason is TV dollars as we all know, but like everyone else forcing something unpalatable on the populace, they blame the virus. And because of the virus, we are condemned to a...

The daily dose of football that has been a response to the virus carries some lessons for the future of the game. 1. Football on TV every night deadens interest. It is on all of the time, so it doesn't matter whether you see a game or not. 2. The physical demands of Australian football are too...

I see on the AFL website the spruiking of new technology in ticketing to spy on fans and swamp them with advertising. ( Sorry "personalize their experience"). As usual we will accept this increment to the surveillance state with our customary docility, just as we have been intimidated into the...

With the trades complete, and our draft selections pretty well fixed, it is interesting to consider how the team will marshal its assets next year. The forward line is crowded with medium players who are fast and can mark. Elliott will make another such, who will threaten Thomas' position...

On Sunday I was at the North Melbourne v West Coast game. I had the pleasure of watching McGovern's defensive work as he played the ball and almost always won, barring a few occasions when Daw got a good run at and marked. I also watched with disgust as Brown was scragged, held, pushed and...

The incredible farce that is the AFL directive to the women's coaches is the clear signpost to tell us all where the problems with the game today emanate from. Since the decision makers don't like the look of the game for one week, and really only one game, they direct the coaches of all teams...

I am intrigued by the (non) action in recruiting this year. The decision makers must be very happy with our list since they made no moves to modify it using some pretty good players that were available. The loss of two quick half backs and their replacement with just one untried player certainly...

The AFL is about to look at the rules for next year. It is an appropriate time to look at how things went this year and consider what they might do. 1. The 10 metre rule. This was a good modification and mostly worked well. It stopped unfair encroachment from the side as intended. The...

With Carlton, Collingwood. Essendon and Richmond entrenched in the bottom third of the ladder, there should be real concerns for the future of the code. Carlton and Essendon are there because of penalties for cheating, and it could be argued that they deserve it. Collingwood and Richmond are...

The game is now a congested unsightly mess, looking similar to what it did on a wet, windy day in the sixties. Unless the AFL deals with this, the prospects for the game are poor. The culprits are the coaches. They want to control play, and numbers around the ball is their answer. The tool that...

The AFL is heading for trouble with its acceptance of the calculated thuggery that Hawthorn has brought to the code from Rugby League. Hawthorn players clearly train to deliver tackles that injure. The method has been with them for a while, but is now bedded in. The kind of thing I mean is the...

This year's modifications have been good. Holding the ball rulings now look much as they did 40 years ago. The odd umpire makes the odd error, being too strict or not strict enough, but they mostly have it right. The regulation of marking contests needs more work. Players are still held out and...

Most of the discussion of our prospects for this year have revolved around Ben Reid and the development of onballers. I believe that the greatest influence on how the team goes will fall to the two young ruckmen. Perhaps because of the less than pleasant way in which he left the club, there has...

It is time that umpires were directed to enforce the rules about shepherding players out of marking contests. The still shot at the start of the AFL website video for the puff piece on Schoenemakers illustrates the problem perfectly. Schoenemakers is taking a mark, while metres behind, Roughhead...

Having watched Brett Lee's brutal rebuttal of Piers Morgan's criticism of the courage of England's batsmen, I am moved to question our right as posters to question the hardness of our AFL players. Morgan showed that he was unwilling to stand and play the bowling he abused the English players of...

Umpiring is quite different now to what it was at the start of the year, and I would argue, much better. Improvements. 1. The interpretations have vastly diminished the frees to the duckers, divers and to a lesser extent the shruggers. 2. Holding the ball is better handled...

So Melbourne is not guilty, but is paying a fine of half a million dollars. That's logical! Two men as scapegoats. The wider organization exonerated. Another AFL crock.

As threatened by the NAB cup rule this year, the AFL has decided that ruckmen will be free kicked for making contact before the ball is bounced. This appalling rule changge will see a lot of games decided next year by free kicks in ruck contests on the forward line. It will be a worthwhile...

So after a great grand final, where is the game and where is it going? Umpiring. The umpires and their advisers have met the challenge of the duckers, divers and shruggers. They have dealt with the coaching for high frees well, with a clear refusal to free kick players who barge into opponents...

Players need to stop being honest with the media. Their reward is relentless assaults whenever they say what they think (consider the Cloke situation). The only way to stop the media from distorting the stories of (and sometimes mentally crushing) players, is for the players as a group to give...

Since Alex Fasolo admitted he feigned a handball to draw a 50 m penalty, someone, Geishen presumably, has decided that to shape for a handball after a mark or free kick is now play on. I don't watch all games, but the two clear examples have been Adam Goodes a fortnight ago and Ben Reid last...

The Anzac Day match was a great contest, but it was also a watershed game in the progression of our game into rugby union. This is because the AFL in its drive to change Football into a sort of paddock basketball has made rules and interpretations that minimise ruck contests. Ruck contests are a...

The response of the AFL to the Joel Selwood twitter about Folau, closely following the trashing of Matthew Rendl by Dimitriou, labels the AFL management as a gang of bullies unable to deal with anything that even relates to football in a balanced way. A complete cleanout of these people is in order.

The AFL website posted an article bleating about the loss of moral integrity by the participants in the game. What a cheek. The loss of club loyalty, the pursuit of high salaries, the self interest of clubs, players and coaches are all products of the AFL's own policies. The AFL commission...

The Steven Milne/Aaron Joseph judgements show the bankruptcy of the MRP's by the numbers system of judging players and incidents. Annoying rat as he is, Milne does not deserve to have his hand trodden on. This is a serious attack, meant to injure. Lengthy outs to Toovey and Dawes show what the...

Does anyone feel as I do that the umpiring in the NAB cup so far has lost the qualities that made it so good during the final series? We have returned to 50 metre penalties for trivial misdemeanours, applied seemingly at random, and without consistency. During last years finals, few free kicks...